Authors: Peter Jacobson, Senior Lecturer in Condensed Matter Physics, The University of Queensland and Beck Wise, Lecturer in Professional Writing, The University of Queensland In 1977, an American physicist named John H. Van Vleck won the Nobel prize for his work on magnetism. In his Nobel lecture, amid a discussion of rare earth elements, one […]
Chemistry • Ecology • Environment • Evolution • Geosciences
More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin across what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake much like modern-day Death Valley evaporated under the sun’s gentle heat, leaving behind crystals of halite—rock salt. It was a very different world than the one we know today. Bacteria were the dominant form of life […]
Ever wondered why certain diseases seem to run in families, or how tiny changes in our DNA can lead to serious health conditions? Scientists have developed a powerful new tool that simultaneously analyzes both DNA and RNA within individual cells, offering unprecedented insight into how genetic variations contribute to disease. The Problem With Current Technology […]
The JTRACK international research expedition has uncovered new details as to why a 2011 earthquake northeast of Japan behaved so unusually as it lifted the seafloor and produced a tsunami that devastated coastal communities along with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Some of the first published data from the expedition finds that at the […]
Chemistry • DIPC Advanced materials • DIPC Electronic Properties • Materials
Carbon is one of the most versatile elements in the periodic table. Beyond the familiar forms of graphite and diamond lies a rich family of carbon structures with surprising and useful properties. Among these, graphene, a single two-dimensional (2D) allotrope consisting in a layer of carbon atoms arranged in a perfect hexagonal lattice, has captivated […]
Glaciers are melting worldwide. In some regions, they could even disappear completely. Looking at the number of glaciers disappearing, the Alps could reach their peak loss rate as early as 2033 to 2041. Depending on how sharply the planet warms, this period may mark a time when more glaciers vanish than ever before. Worldwide, the […]
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are highly potent and broad-spectrum antibiotics, found as components of the innate immune system in almost all forms of life. AMPs are short proteins, tiny compared with conventional antibiotics but extraordinarily effective: they bind to and disrupt bacterial membranes, which quickly incapacitates or kills a cell. For decades, the picture many scientists […]
Authors: Guillem Chust , Head of Climate Change in Oceans and Coasts; Xabier Irigoien , IKERBASQUE Professor; and Naiara Rodríguez-Ezpeleta , Head of Molecular Ecology and Biotechnology at AZTI , Marine Research / Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Most nowadays existing animal groups originated in the sea after the Cambrian explosion, 540 million years […]
When it comes to brain function, neurons get a lot of the glory. But healthy brains depend on the cooperation of many kinds of cells. The most abundant of the brain’s non-neuronal cells are astrocytes, star-shaped cells with a lot of responsibilities. Astrocytes help shape neural circuits, participate in information processing, and provide nutrient and […]
Throughout the relentless struggle against cancer, conventional medicine has largely depended on aggressive methods of elimination—surgical removal, radiation, and chemotherapy—aimed at eradicating malignant cells before they can overwhelm the patient. While these approaches have proven effective in many cases, they often come at a steep cost, damaging healthy tissue and leaving patients vulnerable to recurrence […]